Ayase and Ikura talk through the albums and artists that have inspired them throughout their career
YOASOBI have been busy checking items off their list of dreams and goals, and they’ve been making pretty impressive time in doing so. After making their US stage debut last year in the midst of the success of ultra-viral crossover hit “IDOL,” Ayase and Ikura are back in America, this time to perform during both weekends at Coachella.
Reflecting on the first weekend in Indio, producer Ayase shares, “We did two performances, one solo, and one as part of the 88rising Futures series. Coachella has always been one of our goals, so it was very exciting to be on stage — but at the same time, I was nervous about the audience’s reaction. It was a complete unknown when we got up on stage, but it was super warm and super welcoming.”
Following a smash like “IDOL,” which has a music video currently boasting over 450 million views on YouTube, the two are aware of their status as ambassadors for J-pop. As they gear up for the second weekend onstage at Coachella, they’ve selected 10 albums that shaped their approach to making music, one more fantastical and whimsical than would be considered standard. YOASOBI pull largely from fiction as the root of inspiration, collaborating with novelists and writers to build a narrative.
“Seeing that someone could make music that goes so far into this fantasy world really surprised me,” Ikura says of SEKAI NO OWARI’s 2012 album ENTERTAINMENT. “There’s definitely some influences there in my own music and my own musical roots.”
Read all 10 of the duo’s selections below, and catch their performance via the Coachella YouTube livestream this weekend.

Ayase: That was the first time I fell in love with music. It was the first CD I bought in my entire life — I think I was in third grade at the time. That served as the entry point into this entire world and industry of music for me.

Ayase: In Japan, we often listen in particular to the lyrics and the melody of any given song. I bought this album when I was about 12 years old — I want to say in the sixth grade — so at the time it wasn’t really listening to the strings or the jazz influence. It was more about the melody and the simple parts of the music. But I think that definitely influenced a lot of how I compose melodies and different phrases.
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